Movie Review – The Foreigner

The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, is a timely action thriller from the director of Casino Royale. The film tells the story of humble London businessman Quan (Chan), whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fuelled vendetta when the only person left for him to love — his teenage daughter — is taken from him in a senseless act of politically-motivated terrorism. In his relentless search for the identity of the terrorists, Quan is forced into a cat-and-mouse conflict with a British government official (Brosnan), whose own past may hold clues to the identities of the elusive killers.

Cast – Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Katie Leung & Orla Brady

Director – Martin Campbell

Genre – Crime film/Thriller

Running Time – 1h 54m

I remember the first time I saw the trailer for this one back in early September this year. Surprised and intrigued are the best words to describe how I felt. The surprise came from the fact that it’s Jackie Chan but it’s him like we’ve never seen him before, this movie literally (judging just from the trailer) exposes his true acting abilities. The intrigue coming from its overall set up with the plot and storyline forming a large part of this. There’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing the unexpected in anything, this also applies from a movies point of view, if not more. Starring two industry veterans in Jackie Chan and Pierce Bronsnan, it’s clear that this has the ingredients of a great and solid offering.

I expected it to be a bit different from what it is, that is neither a good or bad thing…just an observation. A good and solid crime thriller that presents a plot right from the onset that is further explored in more detail. Being the lead in the movie, it was refreshing to see Chan put in a fantastic acting performance which I reckon is his best. The movie exposes a very emotional side to him that none of us have ever seen, let alone knew he was capable of. Great acting and a definite highlight for me.

The movie isn’t perfect, some of the scenes were unnecessary and could have been cut. In my opinion this should have been a plain one-and-a-half-hour movie that wraps up quickly, much like it gets to the point in the beginning. So yes, it does meander a bit but nothing that should put you off completely. It does enough to keep your attention and intrigue. Another thing (which might be slightly silly) that I found off putting at times are the Irish accents which kind of annoyed me and are a bit overdone…Bronsnan being guilty of this, but this is probably a personal taste thing than anything else.

The Foreigner isn’t the best movie you are going to watch this year, but it is worth a watch nonetheless. The storyline is too simplistic, and it does meander a bit at times, nothing too bad however. If anything, go see it for the excellent performance from Jackie Chan, his best in my opinion. Officially in cinemas from the 15^th Dec, The Foreigner gets a 3 out of 5 rating from me.

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#Jackie Chan #Katie Leung #Martin Campbell #Orla Brady #Pierce Brosnan #The Foreigner

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Thabiso Moloi

With many, many years of PR, digital & influencer marketing work under his belt, Thabiso has worked on a great number of technology, business and consumer brands. In addition, he has become obsessed with most things under the sun including music, series, sports, movies etc which he now regularly writes about. You can find him on Twitter: @Thabz_14